I'm in the heart of Phoenix. They are thriving year round in crazy desert sun and thru our winter chill without special protection. They are located on north side of house. Some get full az sun in the middle of garden and some get partial sun. They spread easily for me by seed and cuttings. I don't water them much. They are mostly native soil. I do mulch them which I think is why they are doing well. I don't use any purchased fertilizer, but I have thrown compost around them. Try them. They smell great, drought tolerant, pretty and most people don't have them. They can take the heat and sun here. Mine are either English or Spanish lavender. I have tried Grosso variety imported from CA but it fried. This post was edited by toucan on Fri, Dec 20, 13 at 23:31

Over a number of years, while dealing with folks learning the rudiments of effective money management, I've suggested, with their permission, that they plan to have 3 to 6 mos. worth of income available quite readily, in case of an emergency need. For folks with variable or seasonal income, or worrying about the security of their employment, I would more likely recommend their having 9 mos. to a year's worth of money available in case of emergency, or as replacement for income if theirs were to stop, for whatever reason. Usually personal financial advisors suggest that one keep part of those assets in a savings account and quite likely some in a money market account, which pays a higher rate of interest than a savings account and is readily cashable in case of need. As clients became more aware of the complexities of managing their money, especially if they had learned the wisdom of not carrying balances of debt on their "credit" cards over the original billing period, thus incurring interest expense, I sometimes told them of some of my own approach to the emergency money issue. I don't like earning interest. Money in a savings account or money market fund (also in CDs and GICs, which, being for a specified term, aren't easily available in case of immediate need) carries the banks oft-repeated guarantee that the number of dollars, apart from the rent on the money, won't shrink. The inverse guarantee, never stated, is that, apart from the rent on the money, the number of dollars won't grow, either. The only return that those dollars of principal will ever produce relative to that period of time is produced right then. And, in Canada, that kind of income, interest (along with wage/salary, or resultant pension [apart from a certain deductible amount on the latter]) attracts income tax at the top rate. Those being the types of income earned by most citizens. As I'm older, with no kids to perhaps get sick and keep me home from work, or spouse, the same, and as my pension gets deposited monthly, I don't have to worry if my car needs repairs, including a part that must be sent from wherever, how I'll get to work for the next week ... or so. Or similar improbable problems. I have a credit card or two and in case of emergency, I can almost always pay for whatever emergency bills develop, as they arise using the credit card. As I had some certificates for mutual funds that I own (issued without fee) and stocks (issuance fee applies), I used them as collateral to obtain a fully-secured line of credit with a limit higher than several months' pay, which usually sits there unused (and the bank does not charge a fee for inactivity). Before the credit card bill is due, I arrange for a loan using my Line of Credit of the amount needed to pay the full amount owing on the credit card debt. I deposit the proceeds into my bank account, then transfer the amount due to the credit card issuer to my account with them (with no fee for the transfer, a I'm a senior). A while ago, the interest rate on the LOC was 6.25%, and back then I calculated that, if the loan were not for an emergency use, but for investment, I could pay the interest at almost nil net cost to me. Then the interest rate was lowered to 5.75%, and a month or so ago to 4.75%. But I keep the Line of Credit available for emergency use, and one to be used for investment, entirely separate, for the interest on the first is not deductible, but that on the second is deductible. My experience has been that I can usually produce enough savings to pay off that loan for emergency use using the Line of Credit over only a few months. It has been my experience that the need for such emergency loans is infrequent. In the meantime, I invested a larger amount into some equity-based mutual funds, or, preferably, into individual stocks that I bought directly, as then I don't pay a substantial annual fee to the manager of the mutual fund for his/her service. Some mutual funds develop dividend income and capital gain income annually that, though they reinvest, they declare a distribution annually to me, that is then taxable at the time, but at a lower rate than on interest income. However, there is usually a growth in value of the mutual fund ... but I don't become liable to pay tax on that, until I either sell the fund ... or die. So the tax on that growth was deferred. Then, howerver, I pay tax at only half of the regular rate. For Canadian stocks that I buy directly, some of them pay me a dividend annually, and that type of income used to be taxed at a rate much below the rate on interest, then last year a change in the rate of calculation meant that the tax rate on them was reduced even more. Some pay no dividend at all, so I am not liable to pay any tax at all relative to those stocks over the years that I own them. However, several of the stocks that I own have grown in value over the years ... and there have been some losers, as well. I am not required to answer to the income tax people for those gains during the years that I owned them. One that I owned for 41 years has doubled four times during that period (last year it was four and a half times, but they were involved in some of those stinky mortgages in the U.S. that have gone bad). When I sell those stocks, or die, I have to answer to the income tax people for the capital gains that have developed and they require that I pay them tax at regular rate on very second dollar of that growth - but I get one half of those growth dollars free of tax. Over the years, the growth produced by the stock holdings has been higher in most cases than the assets invested earning interest. Then, much of the ongoing dividend income was taxed at low rate as it was earned and paid ... and the tax on the capital gain was deferred till sale, then assessed at half regular rate. If there were losses on some stocks, those losses were deducted from capital gains on other stocks. I like that ball game a whole lot better. I'm willing to pay even non-deductible interest on an emergency fund that I borrow, for it's an infrequent situation, and is usually paid off over a term of a few months ... but the money that I'd invested as outlined above had produced a much better rate of return than had it sat earning interest in a money market or a savings account. As I said ... I don't like earning interest! Some ideas about money management that may be of interest. ole joyful P.S. Confession time ... a few months ago, I had most of a year's income readily available ... and most of it in a plain old savings account, not even in the money market fund that would have earned at a slightly higher rate! So much for the difference between theory and practice! Actually, I'd thought for some time that I'd soon be investing it ... but month by month was dragging my feet, for I didn't like the looks of the market. In addition ... the general concensus of advice is ... ... don't try to time the market!! Just invest, on a regular basis, when the money becomes available. Smart-asses (and preachers) aren't always doing what they say! Kids (when they get to be teens, especially) will tell you the same about their parents, right? o j

I don't know about the dress. My mom was on the left in the capris. The dress I took a picture of was store bought. The ones mom made I am mostly keeping for myself. We are having a quilt made of some pants, dresses and tops, mostly from the 70's-present days, but I can't bring myself to cut up a gorgeous, in-tact mid-century silk outfit to make a pillow, etc. My mom was an aficionado of many types of fine things. I have so much to go through, but I can only do it in stages and a little bit at a time. There are books, art, clothing, dishes, etc. The detritus and kitsch I can easily discard, but I am not comfortable with just throwing out things that are very nice and still usable. With the clothing and fabric, I would just like to find someone to give them to and let them sort out the wheat from the chaff. I may just save all this stuff and hire a company I know of that comes in and takes away household items when someone is cleaning out a parents home or moving. They have all kinds of contacts and will sell them for you--books, art, dishes, clothes, etc. However, I'm just not ready for that because I am still sorting. But I am running out of storage space for the "to go" items! I don't care to make any money on this stuff, unless it was something very valuable, which I seriously seriously doubt any of it is. I just want them to be re-cycled. I am well aware that antiques and fancy dishes and old art are not worth anything anymore because millennials are transient, casual minimalists. Or at least a large cohort of them are.

I remember when DD became engaged. We had the whole family here for Christmas, as usual, and she was arriving here the 24th and flying to fiancee on the 26th for their splashy engagement party in Louisiana that night or the next. She needed a dress, and so I ran out to two Macy's on the 24th to find a cocktail dress that would fit her. I brought home every petite 0 and petite 2 that looked possible, maybe 8 dresses. I hoped we could keep 2 or 3. All of them were too big except one would work because it was cut on the bias and draped on her well, even though it was a tad big too. So as her dad took her to the airport the morning of the 26th, I returned the dresses. That red satin Jones New York dress still fits and is a lovely dress for fancy occasions 12 years later.